Captivated by the deadly mafia boss

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It’s a fucking mess.

Marcin Garska was moving twenty-five girls in that train car. Even for a prick like him, that’s ambitious. We were able to get information from one of his men before he was tossed in a death pile. The car was headed east to New York. From there it would have been put on a boat headed for Russia.

Garska wasn’t even doing business with our own people. He was bringing the fucking Bratva into the mix.

Fucking prick.

The women have all been moved to a hotel nearby. We’ve rented the whole floor, and my men are keeping them safe.

It’s been a full day since the shit storm began, and Kasia is avoiding me. But that has to end. I can’t let her sink too far into her own darkness. We may never find each other again if we do that.

“She had some lunch,” Margaret informs me when I walk into the kitchen. I see the empty plate in her hands.

“Good.” I look out into the yard, toward her tree. The sun is beating down hard today, she won’t be in the rose garden.

Kasia sits in her chair, her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on her knee. If she folds herself any further into herself, she’ll disappear altogether.

“Boss.” Tommy walks into the kitchen. “There’s a cop at the door.” He looks out at Kasia. “Her father’s been found.”

We were expecting it. It’s better for Kasia if he’s off the books.

I follow Tommy to the front door. A uniformed cop and a suited-up detective stand on my porch. I know the detective.

“Mr. Staszek. We’re hoping to talk with your wife, Kasia? This concerns her father.”

“My wife isn’t feeling well. You can tell me what you need to,” I say, folding my arms over my chest. Asking her to pretend as though she doesn’t already know her father’s dead is too much. She’s in pain already, I won’t add to it.

“We need to notify the next of kin.” The cop keeps his features schooled.

Detective Stevenson clears his throat. “It’ll all right. We can give the information to Mr. Staszek. If his wife has questions, she can reach out to me personally.” His eyes fix on me. He’ll want a boost in his next payment.

The uniformed cop frowns but gives me the news. Marcin Garska was found dead in his own train car, apparent suicide. I nod along as he speaks, not interrupting him while he tells me when and how we can get his body for burial. He can burn for all I care, but Kasia may want to give him a proper funeral.

It’s up to her.

“Thank you,” I say once they’re all done. “We’ll be in touch if we need anything.” I shut the door before the detective can make a show of handing me a card.

“Was that about Dad?” Kasia is behind me when I shut the door.

“Yeah.” I bolt the door and turn to her. “We can pick up his remains in two days, once they do… well, what they do.” I’m not going into details. She doesn’t need those images in her mind.

Her hair is pulled into a messy ponytail at the base of her neck, her eyes puffy from crying, and there’s red blotches on her cheeks. I step toward her, and she takes one back.

“Kasia.”

She shakes her head. “I… I’ve never planned a funeral before.” She wraps her arms around her stomach.

“I can have it taken care of. Just tell me what you want. What you need.” Seeing her this way, the pain clearly etched on her face, the heartbreak evident in her voice – it makes me want to put another bullet in Marcin’s fucking head.

“I don’t have family… he was it. An uncle, but he’s still in Poland. He never moved here.” She raises her eyes to mine. “I don’t want him buried next to my mother or sister. He doesn’t get to spend eternity with them.”

I nod, what else can I do? I need to wipe away her pain. “He won’t be.”

“He has friends, business associates. They will probably expect something,” she blows out air. Just this little bit of an interaction is taking too much energy.

“A small service. He’ll be cremated and the ashes will be sent back to Poland, to his brother. He can figure out what to do with him. Is that all right?”

I take another step toward her, and she stands firm this time.

“Yes. That sounds… good,” she frowns. There’s nothing good in this situation. “The women from last night.”

“They are staying at the Hilton on Ogden. They’re being protected and I’m having two doctors head over there this afternoon to help anyone who needs it. A few girls needed immediate care last night, it’s been taken care of.” I feel like I’m making a report to my boss. If she doesn’t approve, she’ll slip further away. I can feel her sliding away from me.

“What will happen to them now?” she asks, raising her chin.

“I don’t know, Kasia. From what I’m told, some of them have been sold and bought three times over. The girls that want to go home can be taken home whenever they are ready, but the others… some of them don’t have anywhere to go.”

Her frown deepens. “They have no one,” she whispers. “Like me.”

“No.” I cringe at the force in my voice, but I can’t help it. “You’re not like them at all. You’re not alone.” I grab her arms, keeping her from running up the stairs. She looks like she wants to run. “You’re here with me. You have me.”

“You have everything now, Dominik. You don’t need me anymore. My dad’s gone; you’ll get to take his territories.” Her shoulders sag.

I stare at her a long moment. Remembering the panic overtaking me as I made my way to her yesterday. How I couldn’t look away from the GPS tracking to be sure I knew where she was, how I could get to her. I remember the cold fear of seeing Marcin’s men’s guns aimed at her when I found them. If they demanded I hand over everything to keep her safe, I would have. It wouldn’t have taken even a blink of an eye to agree.

“I already have everything, Kasia.” A tear slides down her cheek, and I catch it with my thumb, wiping it away. “You. I have everything because I have you.”

There’s a tremble in her lower lip.

“Do you hear me? You are everything I need.” I grip her tighter. “Tell me I haven’t lost you because of this, tell me you’re not gone from me,” I demand.

She brings her hands up and wraps them around my wrist. Not to tear me away from her, but to touch me. To put a connection between us.

“You’re not my father,” she says quietly. “Even in your most asshole moods, you’ve never made me feel unnecessary.”

I should have been the one to put that bullet in Marcin’s head. Maybe I wouldn’t feel so much anger toward him still. “I promise, Kasia, I swear on my mother’s grave, I will never allow anyone to hurt you again. You will never feel alone, never be without love again. Never.” It’s a vow I feel more sincerely than the ones I muttered in that damn chapel weeks ago.

Was it that short of a time ago? It feels like Kasia has been in my life for longer, much longer. Maybe because she takes up so much of my life now.

There’s purpose to me now. Not just work, but her. She’s my point.

“I’m sorry I took off like that,” she says after a long silence stretches between us. “I should have waited for you. I thought… I was afraid you wouldn’t let me go.”

“I wouldn’t have,” I say honestly. “I would have tied you to my bed to keep you from going there to see what you saw. To have that horror etched into your mind.”

“When you got there, you didn’t order your men to take me away. You asked me what I wanted done.” She seems confused by this still. Doesn’t she understand?

“I will always be there, always ready to stand in front of you to protect you, and to stand behind you when you need support.” I press my forehead to hers. “Kocham Cie, Kasia.” I love you.

“Kocham Cie, Dominik.”

It’s the first time I’ve heard her speak in Polish, and I will always remember it.

I kiss her, not one of ownership or power, but a tender kiss that relays every emotion I hold for her. I went into this marriage as a way to help my father, a way to expand our territory. But I’ve gotten so much more.

I have Kasia.